


Behind Closed Doors

by shopgirl152



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Distance, Do You Want to Build a Snowman?, Drama, Emotional Distance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friends to Dating, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Grief, Growing Apart, Growing Pains, Growing Up, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Male-Female Friendship, One Shot, Strained Friendship, burying a pet, reconcilliation, time lapse story, various character ages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8562049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopgirl152/pseuds/shopgirl152
Summary: "It's...kinda lonely without you Isabella. I miss you." Phineas leaned against the door. "What's wrong Isabella? We used to be best friends, but..." he sighed, motioning between himself and the door. "There's a distance between us now. Why?"Nobody ever said growing up was easy...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Geez. This story has been on my phone for freaking EVER. Anyway.
> 
> This originally started out as an homage/adaptation of the Do You Wanna Build a Snowman scene from Frozen. Then it lapsed into that plus an homage/adaptation of For the First Time in Forever Reprise (also from Frozen), then becoming those two plus a slight Act Your Age rewrite. So it's a combination of all three. Enjoy! 
> 
> Starts with their canon ages in the show (which I'm estimating to be around 8 years old)

Phineas opened his eyes and yawned, blearily sitting up in bed. He stretched, his gaze lazily turning to the window. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he bounded out of bed, running to the window. He grinned. "It's snowing!"

He threw on his snow clothes, running out of his room, down the steps and out the front door in record time. He checked the street, making sure no cars were coming before making his way towards the familiar house across the street, bounding up the steps to the front porch and giving three loud knocks.

A sleepy looking girl opened the door from the other side, blinking at him. "Phineas?"

"Hey Isabella. Wanna build a snowman?" He indicated the snow behind him. "There's a fresh batch out here."

"Yeah!" She shut the door a moment and the red head waited several minutes before the door opened again, this time revealing a wide awake Isabella dressed in her snow clothes. She grabbed him by the hand, hauling him down the steps. "Come on! Let's go and play!"

* * *

_Six years later_

"Hey Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro, is Isabella home?" Phineas stood on the front porch of his friend's house, rocking back on his heels.

"Yes, she is. She's in her room, but I don't think--" the woman sighed as the fourteen year old ran past her, taking the stairs to Isabella's room two at a time. "She wants to see you..."

The red head hit the landing on the second floor with a spring in his step, cautiously raising a hand to the door and knocking. "Isabella, do you wanna build a snowman with me?" Phineas waited patiently for an answer from the other side of the door, only to frown at the lack of response. "Or...we could ride bikes around the neighborhood. I know there's snow everywhere and it's cold, but Ferb and I were thinking of building some all terrain snow bikes." Still nothing. "It's...kinda lonely without you Isabella. I miss you."

Silence.

He leaned against the door. "What's wrong Isabella? We used to be best friends, but..." he sighed, motioning between himself and the door. "There's a distance between us now. Why?"

A sad voice came from the other side of the door. "Go away Phineas."

He sighed, standing up and looking over his shoulder at the door. "Yeah. Okay. Good-bye Isabella."

* * *

_Four years and six months later_

"So...how bad is it?" The red head frowned, stroking the platypus from head to tail.

"I'm afraid the prognosis isn't good. Your pet's very old Phineas and for some reason, he seems to have aged rather fast for a platypus. He's a little beat up; the X-Ray showed an old bruise on one of his ribs and a past break in one of his legs." The veterinarian studied the animal a minute. "And all that coupled with the cancer? I'm sorry, but I'm afraid he's not long for this world."

Phineas swiped away a tear. "How much longer does he have?"

"I'm afraid he only has a few days left. The best thing to do for him now is to make him as comfortable as possible."

* * *

_A few days later_

The sun beat down on the Flynn-Fletcher backyard as Phineas emerged from the house on a warm summer day. He was older now, eighteen and though Perry had only recently passed, the ache in his chest was still palpable. He slowly trudged across the street, wearily lifting a hand to the familiar door. He knocked.

"Isabella?" Silence. "Please, I know you're in there. I've been wondering where you've been. Everyone's been telling me to have courage and I'm trying to, but..." He choked down a cry, voice cracking. "Isabella, Perry died. It only happened a few days ago, but I'm still really sad and--"

The door was flung open and Isabella stepped outside, wrapping her friend in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry Phineas." Her voice was barely a whisper as she pulled back, studying him. "Did you already bury him?"

"He's in the garage. Ferb told me I could bury Perry without him, but..." he wiped away a tear. "I've been trying to do it the last three days, but I can't bring himself to bury him."

"Would you like me to help you? I'm sure Ferb wouldn't mind." The red head nodded and Isabella took his hand in hers, the two walking across the street in silence. She led him into his garage, looking around. "Where is he?" Phineas pointed across the way and her jaw dropped in shock. There on the workbench was a platypus sized casket carved out of mahogany. "Phineas, it's beautiful."

"I thought he needed something more to be buried in than just a shoebox. It's not my best work, since Ferb's out of town, but..." he ran a hand across the wood. "I think it'll be fine."

Isabella opened the casket, studying the platypus inside. Perry appeared to be sleeping, his eyes and mouth closed. She gently ran her fingers over the teal fur, the skin cold to the touch. She carefully closed the casket and picked it up, Phineas grabbing a shovel as the two made their way into the backyard. "Where should we bury him?" she asked.

"Under the tree. It's where he spent his last few days. Sleeping in the sunlight." He gave her a small smile, finding a patch of dirt before sinking the shovel in it. He scooped a few shovelfuls before sinking it into the dirt again, fresh tears rolling down his face. "Isabella..."

She set the casket down before placing both hands on top of his, the two sinking the shovel into the dirt, the only sound the thunk of dirt and the red head's muffled cries.

Several minutes later, a hole the size of the casket lay in the middle of the Flynn-Fletcher's yard and Phineas sank to his knees, emotionally spent.

Isabella sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, turning her gaze to the casket. "Do you want to say a few words before we put him in?" The red head nodded, wiping his eyes on his shirt sleeve. "Do you want to say it or do you want me to?" He pointed to her and the teenager nodded, getting up and grabbing the casket before gently setting it inside the hole. "Hey Perry. It's Isabella. It's been awhile since I've seen you." She frowned, glancing at the red head before turning back to the casket. "You were a good platypus, always accompanying us on some of our adventures and looking out for--for--" she swallowed a cry. "Looking out for Phineas and Ferb. We'll miss you."

The red head shakily got to his feet, the two working together once more, covering the casket before smoothing over the dirt. Phineas heaved a heavy sigh, giving his friend a small smile. "Thanks Isabella. I don't think I could have done this on my own."

"You're welcome." The pair were silent a moment. "I should go."

The tears started anew. "Please don't shut me out again."

"What?" Isabella turned around, staring at him. "Phineas, I--"

"Please Isabella, don't close the door on me. I-I don't know what I did, but...please come back Isabella. I hate this distance between us."

"I hate it too. I'm sorry Phineas. For Perry passing away. And for shutting you out. It's just--"

"I like you Isabella. As more than a friend." A slight blush colored his cheeks. "I've known I've liked you since we started high school. But when I realized that, I didn't see you anymore. You just...never came around outside of school and inside school, you avoided me like I did something wrong."

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why--"

Isabella wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leading him to the front of the house, the two sitting on the front steps. She reached a hand up, wiping away his tears. "I had a huge crush on you in grade school."

He sniffed. "You did? But...how? I mean, I never even noticed."

"Really? I thought I was being so obvious."

"Completely clueless." He frowned, the last of the tears gone. "Sorry."

"I tried for years to get you to notice me and...you never really did. Or at least, that's what I thought. I like being friends with you Phineas, I really do, but when we got to high school...I gave up. I gave up trying and moved on to other things." She ticked a list off on her fingers. "Student government, soccer, debate club...I guess I was just trying to get my mind off you. I didn't mean to shut you out. It just hurt."

"So I guess in retrospect, all those things you did when we were kids..."

"Were for you." A strained silence passed between the two. "So what do we do now?"

"Get another platypus I guess."

"No. I mean," Isabella motioned between them. "This."

"Oh. This." Phineas turned away, his gaze trained on the stoop. "Well, Ferb's leaving for an early orientation at Camford on Oxbury next week. He's only home for a few days before he leaves and, uh, It's...gonna be kind of lonely around here without him." He turned his gaze to her. "Would you...like to go out with me?"

She raised a brow. "So...you're asking me out just because Ferb isn't home?"

"What? No! No. No no. Heh." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry; should have phrased that better."

Isabella gave him a warm smile. "I would love to."


End file.
